10 Ways to Manage Your Depression

Adapted from New Life Ministries

1. Do not expect too much from yourself too soon, as this will only accentuate feelings of failure. Avoid setting difficult goals or taking on ambitious new responsibilities until you’ve solidly begun a structured treatment process.

2. Break large tasks into small ones, set some priorities, and do what can be done, as it can be done.

3. Recognize patterns in your mood. Like many people with depression, the worst part of the day for you may be the morning. Try to arrange your schedule accordingly so that the demands are the least in the morning. For example, you may want to shift your meetings to midday or the afternoon.

4. Participate in activities that may make you feel better. Try exercising, going to a movie or a ball game, or participating in church or social activities. At a minimum, such activities may distract you from the way you feel and allow the day to pass more quickly.

5. You may feel like spending all day in bed, but do not. While a change in the duration, quality and timing of sleep is a core feature of depression, a reversal in sleep cycle (such as sleeping during daytime hours and staying awake at night) can prolong recovery. Give others permission to wake you up in the morning. Schedule “appointments” that force you to get out of the house before 11 a.m. Do this scheduling the night before; waiting until the morning to decide what you will be doing ensures you will do nothing.

"Mental Illness"-- by me, 2007 oil

6. Don’t get upset if your mood is not greatly improved right away. Feeling better takes time. Do not feel crushed if after you start getting better, you find yourself backsliding. Sometimes the road to recovery is like a roller coaster ride.

7. People around you may notice improvement in you before you do. You may still feel just as depressed inside, but some of the outward manifestations of depression may be receding.

8. Try not to make major life decisions (such as changing jobs or getting married or divorced) without consulting others who know you well and who have a more objective view of your situation.

9. Do not expect to snap out of your depression on your own by an exercise of will power. This rarely happens. Many churches and communities have depression support groups. Connect with people who understand depression and the recovery process.

10. Remind yourself that your negative thinking is part of the depression and will disappear as the depression responds to treatment.

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From New Life Ministries. Used with permission. More from New Life Ministries

Sep 11 2011

Seeing Through Photos

Images from http://laylasphotoblog.blogspot.com/. She has a fair number of very good images that she has winnowed out from everywhere. I have culled out these from her and hope they bless you. You just might visit her blog and soak in the beauty she has. She has several pages, and hundreds of photos.

Creativity

Humility

Family

Taking Risk

Beauty

Her site has this notice on it. I have brought it over to BB. “Its very difficult to acknowledge an artist or photographer for each of these photos. I found them all online without copyrights or credits. Each one says something to me. I hope you enjoy them.”I will promptly take any down if I discover that there is a copyright issue.

Jul 14 2011

Three Paintings You May Like, (Maybe)

Copy of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night“, done in Acrylics (but should’ve been done in Oils.) This hangs in a non-profit org. here in Homer, Alaska.

My favorite, out of everything I have done. “Jesus, with His crown of thorns” This sets on the landing of my steps, coming down from my loft.

: California Poppies, Acrylic–

This hangs in my home, since I refuse to peddle it to whoever thinks they might have it in their interests to put it up on their wall.

These three paintings are recovered into circulation because a dear friend asked me, (quite directly, mind you) to bring them out into the sunlight again. For whatever they are worth, it you can soak out anything of truth and understanding, I will leave it up to you. For the most part, I regard these as a definite foolishness. If you happen to disagree, I have no real problem in that.

Jun 3 2011

Color Outside the Lines

“Life is short. Break rules, color outside the lines, forget regrets. Lose track of time. Ignore curfew. Sneak out. Pig out. Be loud. Go crazy. Be stupid. Take too many pictures. Because your not going to remember what you should have done, your going to remember what you did.”

- Unknown

I know that this is not Bible, I have thought a lot about this and I can see no biblical correlation. But my topical Bible lists dozens of occupations requiring giftedness. But I know deep down that our Father is soaked down to his skin with creativity. He has done things that are exceptionally innovative, he reveals imagination in everything he has created. Think about a butterfly, or the color purple, or, wonder about a giraffe. Your house cat is a work of intense beauty.

When we first begin to color with crayons, we are told that we must color in the boundaries. Our picture will get taped up on the wall if we can manage this feat. We become aware that this ability is extrapolated into the different areas of living life. The desire to be accepted and appreciated outweighs anything creative.

Perhaps, maybe, these issues that involve us being creative, need to be stifled or shut down. I suppose we could make a case out of this. We definitely as believers should avoid these theatrics, and conform into a homogenous place of acceptability. The Japanese have a phrase, “The nail that sticks up will be hammered down.” But I wonder, why do we desire to create and imagine things?

Each of us carries a deep sense of esthetics, or what is beautiful. We instantly understand beauty when we see it. We stand in front of a Van Gogh in a museum, or before Michelangelo’s’ statue of David. They effectively undo us. We step back and take a deep breath. One becomes gentle in the face of such wonder and beauty. And after all, we create for “an audience of One.”

We were built for creativity and beauty. It is part of our DNA. It means that we have been created in God’s Image. When we pick up our crayons, we are revealing his presence. When we color, our Father notes what we have done. Some may see a scrawling. But they honestly do not matter. The Father completely understands and is thrilled.

“It’s like you come onto this planet with a crayon box. Now, you may get the 8-pak, or you may get the 16-pak, but it’s all in what you do with the crayons–the colors– that you’re given. Now don’t worry about coloring inside the lines or outside the lines. I say, color outside the lines! Color right off the page!”

Waking Life

I’m of the deep-seated opinion that we need to communicate to our children the wonderful gift of being creative. We must release them, to imagine and be inspired. We need to encourage them to use their crayons, even if they color outside the lines.

Some of my original paintings– Hope they might bless you.

http://brokenbelievers.com/2010/06/03/some-of-my-paintings-such-as-they-are/

Mar 26 2011

The Spirit Controls All of It

“But I tell you that I am going to do what is best for you. That is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.”

John 16:7, CEV

The disciples are becoming frantic and a bit distressed. They are now starting to realize the Jesus is leaving them. In the recesses of their minds they can’t absorb this. It makes no sense at all. (After all, we just got started.) They have been with Jesus almost three years. They can’t imagine life without Him present and available.

Jesus starts saying things to help His friends. I am going “to do what is best for you.” With this concise idea Jesus wants His dear ones–His disciples to understand and accept Him. We must hear Him–”this is why I am going away.” He starts to link His absence with the rich goodness of the Holy Spirit. On strictly basic level, the disciples have a reason for anxiety. He will not be here when I wake up. Jesus has left! I am alone, what will I do?

We have a tendency to think of the Holy Spirit like a telephone. The dynamic is this–someone calls me from a great distance. When I pick up the ringing phone, that person is still a long way away– but the voice is close. To think this way is to mislabel, and to think wrongly. We mistakenly think of Him in distinctly utilitarian terms. Jesus is insisting it is a whole lot better than this. He isn’t on the phone– The Spirit is at the door, and He is ringing your doorbell.

The doctrine of the Holy Spirit is meant to “upset apple-carts” and change the flow of rivers. The Holy Spirit is first and foremost personal. He comes and draws in closer than a person could. He fills us, and our spirits and His are mixed in a new way. Was it nice to have Jesus bodily present? Yes. Of course. But it is also awesome to have the Spirit connecting with us in a most spiritually wonderful way.

When Jesus ascends, the Holy Spirit is given the “green light” to come, and deepen the special relationship that the Father now has for us. However, we can be a bit mistaken. We think that the physical presence of Jesus is “far and away,” and somewhat superior to having the Spirit in our hearts. And it is easy to think that way. But, it’s not true, not even slightly true.

As we examine Acts 1-2 we are escorted the the real and very active world of the Holy Spirit. His ready presence turns these disciples into a “tossed salad” of the Spirit and humanity. What happens can never be undone or reversed. The Holy Spirit has followed Jesus and is now transforming everything. Essentially we must trust in what God has done, and we should bow our hearts and knees to all the Father has done for us. Please, Spirit, come and help us.

Mar 6 2011

Are You Getting Enough Mercy in Your Daily Diet?

Graciously, He gives us what we need

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Matt. 5:6

If you have been given mercy, you now can give it! And only those who show mercy will be those who continue to receive mercy, even a habitual, continual mercy focused right on you. Being a merciful person doesn’t mean you’re getting sentimental or “teddy bear soft.” But it is indeed sympathy, that caring love that dresses up in a servants clothing.

Jesus has no intention of just saving us from sin. He saves us for something! He has this trick, where He will start “a to live your life inside of you, campaign.” When you give Jesus your ‘green light” He takes very seriously. He involves Himself right inside of you. And you will notice right away His presence and His activity right there in your heart, and out from your hands, and from out of your mouth. We discover that He just isn’t a “forgiving God,” but He is also an “empowering” or a changing God!

Our church buildings can be beautiful places. From Mexico, the UK, Canada and US, I’ve had the privilege of wandering into some beautiful places, that have been consecrated to the worship of the Lord God. But I have come to this conclusion: our lives are far more important in touching our communities, much more than our buildings and sanctuaries. Liturgies can be wonderful, but it’s the laity that will touch the hearts.

People really do not care how much we know, until they know how much we care. They are being drawn by just a singularity. They want the “real” Jesus Christ to ignite them. They so desperately want to be touched by the living God. They really want their lives turned upside down and inside out. They want the real thing.